This meditation is guided by Elisa Riutta from South Coast Mindfulness.
Settling down and allowing your shoulders and facial muscles to release their tension,
Inviting the chin to drop gently,
Guiding your body towards a state of relative stillness,
Encouraging your mind to unwind and thoughts to dissolve.
Shifting your focus to the breath,
Feeling its journey from the tip of your nose,
Feeling the lungs and expanding the abdomen,
Then tracing it back out again.
Then taking a fuller breath through the nose and exhaling with a deep releasing sigh through the mouth.
Repeating this a few times and with each exhalation giving a permission to yourself to let go of any burdens,
Whether physical or mental,
Anything that doesn't need carrying here and now.
Broadening your awareness to perceive your entire body,
Acknowledging how it rests,
Whether seated or lying,
Its points of contact with the ground,
Sensing how your weight distributes and connects with the cushion,
Chair or floor.
Scanning lightly from the toes upwards,
Through the legs,
Hips,
Hips,
Back,
Abdomen,
Chest,
Hands,
Arms,
Shoulders,
Neck and face.
Allowing all that you sense to exist just as it is,
Simply observing and if it feels okay,
Gently inviting it to ease.
Now,
Gently broadening your attention to include both the body and mind,
Seeking out areas where you can notice a sense of calm in this moment.
Can you find a spot where there is some ease or at least somewhat still and neutral?
This sensation might be faint or more substantial,
But it is there somewhere,
Even if as the tiniest seed of calm.
Peace is like stormy waters,
Above waves may crash and winds roar,
Yet just beneath all is silent,
Luminous and clear.
The feeling of peace can be fleeting,
Like the brief pause between two waves.
When you identify the peaceful place within you or its faint idea,
Begin to bring your breathing towards it,
Allowing the experience of peace to slowly expand with each breath out.
Where possible,
Encouraging the sensation to radiate throughout various regions of the body,
Like a cleansing and illuminating light.
Peace can move from the body's core to its edges,
Inside out,
Or from the edges towards the center.
It may manifest as boundless spaciousness or lightness in the body,
Where there is no movement and direction seems absent.
Permitting a sense of tranquility to reach and resonate within different areas,
Experiencing how it uniquely feels for you.
If you encounter any obstruction or notice your flow of peace somewhere stopping,
Approaching it with friendly curiosity,
Exploring what may have caused it,
Whether it's an emotion or a particular sensation asking your attention,
Seeing if you can just pause with it for a moment,
Letting go of any resistance or judgment about what is there,
Inviting the sensation to tell you what it needs,
Or simply pausing with it without needing to find out more about it.
Wherever you feel there is space for it,
Letting any intense sensations to blend into your overall experience of the moment,
Or letting the peaceful feeling you found gently cradle the difficult sensation.
Making room for any tightness or heaviness,
Letting them coexist with everything else you feel and sense in this moment,
Gradually their edges becoming less defined as they merge together as part of the whole body.
For a few moments longer,
Breathing in and out the sense of ease,
Allowing it to resource you with what you require most at this time.
Be it silent resilience,
Wisdom,
Care,
Rest,
Or faith in life's ability to carry you,
Even in the moments of difficulty.
Asking yourself with kindness,
How best can I care for myself in the moments that follow?
Without any pressure or trying,
Letting the response just emerge now or later on,
Reflecting on it within your awareness.
Preparing then to open your eyes gently,
Becoming slowly more wakeful in relation to your surroundings,
Being assured that any time and anywhere you have the ability to access the silent wisdom and peace within you,
No matter how subtle and regardless of any other aspects of the moment.
Peace is the silence between two waves.
Peace is the silence between two waves.
Introducing gentle movement to your toes and fingers,
And when ready,
Allowing your eyes to gently flutter open.
May you go well.
